


Fiend

by Alley_Walk (AlleyWalk_writes)



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/F, F/M, Familiars, Gen, Genderfluid Harry Potter, Harry Potter-centric, Harry is the Girl-Who-Lived, I promise I have a valid reason for that, Inspired by The Rigel Black Chronicles, M/M, Minor Character Death, Multi, No Bashing, None - Freeform, Obscurus Harry Potter, Obscurus Lore, Occamys, Pre-Hogwarts, Sirius never went to prison, her parents are still alive, no teen ships prior to Fourth Year
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-22
Updated: 2020-03-29
Packaged: 2021-02-28 19:00:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 6,303
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23262109
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AlleyWalk_writes/pseuds/Alley_Walk
Summary: "A monster like her shouldn't exist. That was an immutable fact seared into her brain, filled with restless nights where her magic was at oncethereandnot there.Raging inside her like a demon locked in a cage."Harriet "Harry" Potter was dangerous. A Potion with no instructions, a spell with no incantation, a bomb ready to go off at the slightest misstep. And with one mistake, she sets out to protect her family from the most dangerous thing in the world: herself.
Relationships: Arcturus "Archie" Rigel Black/Hermione Granger, Draco Malfoy/Pansy Parkinson/Harry Potter, Harry Potter & Arcturus "Archie" Rigel Black, Harry Potter & Aria Nightchaser, Harry Potter/Lionel Hurst (OC) (queerplatonic), James Potter/Lily Evans Potter, Luna Lovegood/Ginny Weasley, Past Sirius Black/ Diana Black (OC), Remus Lupin & Lily Evans Potter, Sirius Black/Remus Lupin (queerplatonic)
Kudos: 39





	1. Breakdown

**Author's Note:**

> Hey, y'all! This is a new fic idea of mine that I had concerning the Rigel Black Chronicles. I know it was written before Fantastic Beasts even came out, but I watched the first movie recently and it made me realize that Harry's character would definitely become an Obscurial if she had followed that canon plotline.
> 
> And so this idea was born.
> 
> For anyone who hasn't read RBC, don't worry, you don't need to have read that to read this. things are a bit AU from HP canon, just enough that Harry's parents are alive and Sirius isn't in jail, but it's not the major AU that RBC is.
> 
> This story will have some OC's from that 'verse, from which I take no credit for whatsoever, as well as some of my own design that I hope y'all will like. This will have a lot of Harry & Draco and Harry & Snape bonding, secrets and subterfuge as well as some angst and hopefully lots of fluff. There'll be a lot of Pre-Hogwarts stuff to get things set up for when she can actually _get_ to Hogwarts, which, hoo boy... 
> 
> Anyway, I hope you like, and please enjoy! ^_^

fiend

_/fēnd/_

1\. Satan, the devil.

2\. any evil spirit; demon.

3\. a person or thing that causes mischief or annoyance.

༻✦༺ ༻✧༺ ༻✦༺

  
  


Monday, July 30th, 1990 

Harry wasn’t sure when it first started.

Had it started when Aunt Diana died? Had it been triggered by her (admittedly small) reaction to her death? (She had been much more concerned about Archie, and still was in many ways).

Had it started when she stopped having the accidental magic that Archie did?

 **_You’re forgetting something._ ** A harsh voice hissed in her ear.

 _‘Oh? And what’s that?’_ Harry asked. She knew she shouldn’t talk to it but–

 **_Maybe there’s just something wrong with you._ **

The monster inside her roared to life, the dark mass of energy twisting and writhing in her gut, snaking and coiling through her veins and leaving trails of ice that burned in their wake. _No!_

Harry pushed down on it with all her might, her whole body shaking with effort as she broke out into a cold sweat. The beast finally quietened, leaving Harry feeling sick and nauseated. And then she decided that however it had started, the cause and effect was the same.

A monster like her shouldn't exist. That was an immutable fact seared into her brain, filled with restless nights where her magic was at once _there_ and _not there_. Raging inside her like a demon locked in a cage.

Shaking her head, Harry wiped sweat from her brow. She really didn’t feel like going down to breakfast this morning. Mum and Dad might ask what was wrong, and Archie would be concerned, too.

With that decided, nine-year-old Harry Potter got out of bed, remaking it in that haphazard way of hers before getting dressed in some brewing robes. Ever since Harry was small and her Uncle Remus had gotten her a Junior Potions kit she had been obsessed with Potions. Her parents had thought it just a hobby at first, but they had soon learned how serious she was when Harry had proclaimed, at the age of seven, that she was going to become the best Potions Mistress in the world. Now that she was ten – or nearly so – she was a bit more realistic, and that realism came with goals.

That was why she knew that in order to become the greatest Potions Mistress in the world she'd need to train under the greatest Potions Master in the world.

Master Snape.

  
  


༻✦༺ ༻✧༺ ༻✦༺

  
  


Harry was just setting aside her last batch of Calming Draughts when her mum poked her head into the room. "Harry? How long have you been down here?" She asked, eyes full of concern.

Harry blinked, trying to divine the time by the length of the candles in the candelabras. "Not that long." She said. By her count, it really hadn't been.

Mum shook her head ruefully. "Come on then, a little late lunch won't hurt you." When Harry looked reluctant, she said, amused, "It'll all be there when you get back."

Harry let out a long bereaved sigh and quickly put her Potions things away with an ease and efficiency that came from long practice. Her mum no longer watched carefully as she cleaned and then stowed the knives away; she had been under constant supervision in her lab until last year when mum had decided she was responsible enough to be on her own before warding the place to hell and back. Harry found the alone time to be a blessed relief on her frayed nerves.

With a last longing look at her Potions lab, Harry slipped a couple Calming Droughts into her robes and clomped up the stairs after her mum, her fire retardant and acid retardant boots clunky yet serviceable. She reached the head of the stairs which opened into a large sitting room with dark stained wooden walls and floors with white accents, the sitting room holding Gryffindor red couches and armchairs in a semi circle around a coffee table covered in Quidditch magazines and some of father’s paperwork, a quill and inkpot beside it. Moving pictures hung on the wall as well as perched on the mantle above the fireplace on the far wall. There was a sliding glass door on one wall that led to the patio, which was cracked from a hex Uncle Sirius had thrown at dad yesterday. On Harry’s left were the stairs which led up to the bedrooms, and in a corner behind a partition was the kitchen.

Harry followed her mum into the kitchen to find Uncle Sirius, Uncle Remus, dad and Archie already there. She seated herself next to Archie and smiled at him, peering into his bowl of… was that mint chocolate ice cream and bacon? Archie grimaced. “It doesn’t taste that bad really.” He defended.

“And that’s the reason you’re playing with it instead of eating it?” Harry pointed out reasonably, and Archie put down his spoon from where he’d been idly stirring his ice cream with a sigh.

“It gives him something to do, at least.” Archie said in an undertone. “Other than the jokeline and visiting the children’s ward at St. Mugno’s, he doesn’t have much to busy himself with.” To distract himself from the gaping hole left by his wife’s death, he meant. Everyone in the family knew that Sirius struggled with depression on a daily basis. Aunt Diana’s passing was still fresh in their minds, and Archie and Sirius had been hit the worse with the loss. Both of them were having weekly visits with Mind Healers, but Harry knew in that way of hers that Aunt Diana’s death would always hang over them, now.

“Have you read the newest article of _The Prophet_?” Dad asked.

Sirius nodded, his face grim. “Bad news, that. Even if the poor girl’s family were a bunch of Death Eater scum.”

Harry blinked, and then looked down at the newspaper that was beside her.

_HEIR GREENGRASS BRUTALLY MURDERED!_

_Ten-year-old Daphne Greengrass, Heir to the Ancient and Noble House of Greengrass, was found brutally murdered in her bedroom at 9 o’clock this morning. She was…_

Harry could read no more, for a memory suddenly swam to the forefront of her mind. She and her family had been invited to a party held by the Rosiers. Despite their Dark leanings, Harry was very good friends with their Heir, Aldon Rosier. She thought his parents mostly approved because they were looking for potentially suitable matches for Aldon in the future. Which Harry found distasteful on principal, not that she’d ever say that to them face to face. 

She remembered. Daphne Greengrass had been at the party.

 _“Everyone knows that that mudblood whore you call a mother only married your father because of his money.”_

_“Perhaps he’s even playing around with the werewolf too. Everyone knows that James Potter and Sirius Black aren’t picky about who they spend their time with.”_

_“What? Are you gonna cry, now that I’m not treating you like the_ ** _precious_** **_Girl-Who-Lived_** _?”_

She remembered with blinding clarity when her magic had been _there_ but _not there_ , and then after that there had been reported destruction in some area in either the Muggle or Wizarding World, all unexplained.

She remembered how _angry_ she had been at Daphne.

And how her magic had left, shortly thereafter.

She… she couldn’t ignore it anymore.

Harry held her head in her hands, her whole body shaking. She felt a warm hand touch her back where she was cold, cold, cold. The coldness wrapped around her like a vice, and she accepted it, taking it in and letting it consume her. Dark and infernal power was rising like a tide inside her, the dark mass surging to press up against the confines of her body, swelling before intensifying and then bursting outwards in an explosion of black swirling mist and glowing coils of green fire. 

Terrified screams resounded throughout the room, and Harry coiled herself in her new form, looking at all the shocked and terrified faces in the room. And then she was gone, gone, _gone_.

  
  


༻✦༺ ༻✧༺ ༻✦༺

  
  


Remus Lupin and the rest of the family sat, quite shocked, in the wake of Harry’s abrupt departure. Their eyes were all turned toward the patio door. Or rather, where the patio door _had been_.

“What the _bloody hell_ was that?!” Sirius asked, his eyes wild with fear and desperation. He turned to his son and looked him over, a sudden fear crossing his face as he put a hand on Archie’s shoulder and said, “Arch, are you-?”

“I’m fine, dad.” Archie said, gifting him a shaky smile. The smile dropped not a moment later. “But Harry–”

“What’s happened to my baby girl? Who did this to her? When I find out who did this I’m going to hex their balls off and replace them with their eyes!”

“James.” Lily said sternly, and James quieted.

“W-what do we do, Lily?” He asked. Sirius shook his head sadly at Remus and mouthed _“whipped.”_ James elbowed him in the side, making him double over with a wince.

“First we gather information. As much as I’d like to go find Harry as quickly as possible, we can’t go off half-cocked in a situation like this one. We need to be absolutely sure of what we’re dealing with first.” Lily said, and though she said it with confidence, Remus could smell her anxiety.

That, coupled with her caution, intelligence and Ravenclaw tendencies much like Remus’s own made him come to the conclusion that she either already knew what Harry was, or wanted definitive proof before bringing it to James’s attention. Remus closed his eyes as he recalled a passage from a book he had read years ago.

_Obscurials are quite dangerous creatures, though tragic as well. They are born from a child that has been suppressing their magic from a young age, where their magic, for lack of a better term, goes quite wild. The child in most cases does not live past ten years of age._

_(See Credence Barebones, Pg 98)_

Remus looked into Lily’s eyes. There was a sadness there, a lingering fear that oozed from her pores like liquid poison. Lily met his gaze and her green eyes flashed with defiance. They held each other’s gaze, a deadly secret laying between them. 

They looked away, and Remus’s mouth quirked up slightly. He knew that look. It was the same look she used to give them when they were being mean to–or quite honestly _bullying_ Severus. The look that said she would defend him no matter what, that she wouldn’t give up on him just because being friends with a Slytherin made her life at Hogwarts harder than it needed to be.

She wasn’t going to give up on Harry. 

The least Remus could do was do the same.


	2. Resolve

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harry firms her resolve and makes an ally, meanwhile Lily does the same while Archie decides it's time to give his father a few grey hairs.

Harry flew through the air, desperation and hopelessness sinking their claws deep into her heart. Her green coils of fire peeked out through the protective outer layers of her corrupted magic, where her heart, her soul lay hidden. She saw Muggle towns and roads flashing by her and urged herself to go faster, to soar away with the wind buffeting her magical senses. She wondered what would happen if she let her core be exposed to the open air, but then decided she would rather not find out.

Why was she doing this?

Harry’s pace slowed significantly, and Harry’s wedge-like head reared back, her long nubby ears flaring before drooping sadly. The rest of her black serpentine body coiled in mid-air, winding around itself as she thought.

Why  _ was _ she doing this? Surely she could go back home any time she wanted. They would accept her no matter what she had done or what she had turned into.

But that was the problem.

Harry didn’t think she deserved acceptance, or forgiveness.

People who hurt other people, who kill other people… 

Well, it was better for everyone if they were kept far away from the people they loved, wasn’t it?

Harry’s core burned with resolve, lighting up her serpentine body in hues of bright green. With a nod to herself, Harry was off.

༻✦༺ ༻✧༺ ༻✦༺

Over the past few hours Harry had gotten relatively used to her new senses. She didn’t have eyes, to be able to see the outside world, or a mouth to taste it as far as she could tell. And the outer layer of her form wasn’t skin, or at least, not exactly. It felt a bit more like hair, in the general idea that whiskers were hair. In the same sense that a cat’s whiskers could alert them of hungry predators or a bat’s screech could let them identify objects around them, so Harry’s outer layer of magic acted as both a way to see and a way to detect danger.

As she was flying over a forest, that danger sense flared to life inside of her. But it wasn’t directed at her. Harry hesitated for a moment, but then she heard,  _ “Help! Please, help me!” _

She dove into the thick of the trees, following the source of the voice as she weaved through the trees until she smelled two men and heard them talking and jesting to each other, hunched over something on a Transfigured table. She hovered above them and scented silver and death and eggshell.

_ Occamy egg traffickers _ , Harry concluded, just as she coiled and struck. The two men cried out as her power swept over them, ducking underneath the table for cover. Harry grabbed the last Occamy egg in her jaws and swept away, swallowing it whole where it could be sheltered within the warmth of her core. She heard the not yet hatched Occamy give a small relieved breath as she enfolded it in the warm of her green coils.  _ “Thank you,” _ she heard the egg say quietly.

Harry had no response that she could give, so she did what she could. She kept flying.

༻✦༺ ༻✧༺ ༻✦༺

“Lily.”

Lily looked up from where she had been researching Dark curses that could make a witch or wizard’s magic go out of control. She blinked blearly up at Remus, the brown eyed man looking at her with an odd expression while holding a book under his arm, as she noted that the fresh candle she had set out was half the length she remembered it being. Lily gave Remus a strained smile. “Hullo, Remus. I was just doing some research on what might have happened to Harry.”

Remus nodded. “As have I.” His words had a quiet, grave understanding to them that made it a hard, hot lump form in Lily’s throat. She blinked, blinked again. Swallowed it down and looked at him in defiance.

“Lily,” Remus said gently, and set the book he was holding down between them.  _ Unobscuring The Obscurus _ , it read. Lily closed her eyes as the last of her denial shattered around her. Or, not denial really. Just the vain hope that something,  _ anything else _ might be the cause.

Lily sighed, suddenly feeling as if she were standing near the shallows, trying not to get pulled in by the tide. She stood up straight and met Remus’s eyes. “Alright. Then we should tell them.”

“‘ell‘s wot?” Sirius asked as he came into the library while eating a scone, James trailing behind him.

“No Archie?” Lily asked, surprised.

Sirius sighed and shook his head. “He tried to run away to go look for Harry. So no, he’s not going to get free reign of the house any time soon.”

“Where did you put him? His room?” Remus asked dubiously. 

Sirius snorted. “It’s on the second storey. I doubt he’d–” Just then there was the sound of breaking glass. Everyone’s eyes widened and with an instantaneous turn on their heels they all Apparated into Archie’s room, stumbling against each other when they arrived. The sight of a bedsheet rope and a broken window met their eyes, and Sirius put his head in his hands. “I am going to kill that kid.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ARCHIE WHY WHY DID YOU HAVE TO GO AND ADD THAT SUBPLOT?!
> 
> Ahem.
> 
> Anyway.
> 
> Like? Don't like?
> 
> feel free to leave comments down below! ^_^


	3. Butterfly

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harry meets a confusing new ally(?), an egg hatches, and Harry's new complex gives Archie a headache.

Monday, July 30th, 1990: 11:14 PM

Harry found herself flying over a familiar Muggle street, where a certain house between numbers eleven and thirteen lay hidden. She was tired and magically exhausted, and she only knew of one safe place where she could find a modicum of shelter. Turning away from the safety of Number Twelve Grimmauld Place and the dangers that lay there, Harry sped off towards Old Larkin Park, and past that, to the spread of forestry that lay beyond it. 

She touched down in a protected glade, lower body coiled with her head reared up much like a normal snake’s would. She scented the air, finding things just as she and Archie had left them. On the tallest tree in the glade was a ramshackle treehouse, with little more than a floor and a half-made roof to shelter from the rain. Preservable food was stowed in the hollow of a tree from Harry’s Apocalyptic phase. Overall it wasn’t much, but so long as it didn’t rain she would be fine. 

Sighing inwardly, Harry let go of her magic. Her snake-self began to disperse into the air, the corrupted black magic sweeping and curling back into itself as her real body gained depth and form. She felt her fingers first, and then her toes. Feeling climbed up the rest of her body with a hot, tingling pain, and she shook out her arms and gasped in a breath. She hadn’t been sure she was even breathing, before. She patted herself down to confirm that yes, she still had clothes, and yes, she was still in one piece. 

_ “What is this place?” _ A voice asked, and Harry jumped, before looking down and catching a glint of silver in the moonlight. There was a sound, as if the Occamy had clacked its beak in amusement.  _ “You forgot I was here, didn’t you?” _ The egg asked wryly.

_ “Maybe,” _ Harry said, feeling a bit sulky but not knowing why.

“You should really bury that in some mulch if you want it to hatch anytime soon.” Harry whirled around at the sound of a voice, her heart pulsing hard and fast in her chest. Where before there had been nothing, there was now a girl perched at the top of her and Archie’s treehouse. She couldn’t be a year or two younger than Harry was, though she looked much slighter, appearing as delicate as a butterfly with her pale skin and ephemeral blue eyes, her light blonde hair flowing in a breeze that Harry couldn’t feel.

“The Winds say that it’s rude to stare.” The slight girl said, and Harry blinked.

“The Winds?” She asked, confused.

“The Winds are always there for those who would listen, but no one ever does.” The girl said sadly.

Harry cocked her head, listening. “I don’t hear anything.”

“ _ Hearing _ is not the same as  _ listening _ .” The girl said. Then without warning the slight girl slipped off the edge of the treehouse, making Harry cry out in alarm and run towards her. The girl’s descent slowed just as she reached the ground, and her feet touched down lightly on the grass, as graceful as any doe. 

Harry frowned, confused and wary. Now that she was closer to the girl, she felt like she’d rather back off and let her be. In fact, if she was here, maybe she should leave. She didn’t want to. She was tired and exhausted, close enough to magical exhaustion that she thought it might be at least a little concerning.

But she would if she had to.

“You know self-destruction isn’t the same as protection.” The girl said, and Harry looked at the girl suspiciously.

“What are you implying, exactly?” Harry asked, her eyes narrowed.

The girl looked at her with a penetrating gaze. “Protecting yourself isn’t the same as destroying who you become along the way.”

Harry became uncomfortable under that gaze and decided that ignoring most of what this confusing girl said would be the best way to get along with her in the short term. “You said this needs mulch to hatch?” Harry asked, gesturing towards the Occamy egg.

The girl nodded. “Warm and slightly damp would be best.” Harry nodded and picked up the egg carefully, making sure to keep it rightside up. The silver of the egg was smooth underneath her fingers, and she idly wondered if the Occamy that hatched out of the egg would mind much if Harry used it for money. She knew she would need funds eventually, and this would get her off to a good start.

Harry found a good spot on the ground covered in decaying leaves and bark, and knelt down to test its depth. When she judged it suitable she nestled the egg inside the mulch, leaving it half covered by the girl’s instructions. She sat down on the ground in front of the egg and the girl sat across from her, her face wreathed in moonlight. “My name’s Luna, by the way.” The girl–Luna said, a dreamy expression on her face.

Harry hesitated. So far her lightning bolt scar had been hidden by her messy bangs and long hair. But her features were distinguishing enough that if she gave her real name, she was sure to be recognized. “Lily,” Harry told her, and resolved to get herself a new identity as soon as possible.

Luna smiled at her as though they were sharing a secret. And then a large  _ crack _ resounded from the Occamy egg. A small crack spiderwebbed along the surface of the egg, fractures spreading and forming into a fissure before the egg was rent in two. The two halves split apart, helped by the wriggling of what was inside. Slowly, a head peeked its way outside of the shell, peering at Harry intently. The Occamy had a curved beak that still had its egg tooth attached, aqua scales on her face with intelligent amber eyes peering up at her. She had a small plume of dark blue and purple with small twisting horns on her head, and as she slithered out of the egg toward Harry she noticed she had a motley of royal blue and aqua scales, with downy purple feathers on either side of her back that must be the beginnings of wings.

Harry felt the moment that their minds met. She felt the odd sensation of air against her scales, saw her own human face and could see miles of forest past that. She smelled the scent of prey on the wind, and it made her hungry. She could scent herself, as well her human self and Luna, too. She could hear their heartbeats, their breathing. All at once everything settled back into a new equilibrium, her mind intrinsically connected to the Occamy’s, their senses and thoughts linked.

_ We are bonded. _ The Occamy agreed quietly, though Harry could feel both her joy and wariness at the thought.

_ I guess. _ Harry said reluctantly.

The Occamy reared back, her plume flattening as she looked down.  _ You do not wish to be my bondmate? _ There was an odd sadness, an odd guardedness to her voice, and Harry wished she could lie to make the creature feel better, but she was in her  _ mind _ . So that was impossible.

_ I don’t know. _ Harry responded. She really didn’t. She thought if she had more time to think about it she could come up with an honest reason for  _ why _ it bothered her, but for now she’d have to wait. 

There was silence, and Harry felt down the bond that the Occamy felt anxious and guarded by what she had perceived from Harry. Harry thought about digging deeper to see what was bothering her, but in the end decided to let it go.  _ My name is Aria Nightchaser. _ Aria said.

Harry thought good and hard for a long few seconds.  _ Rigel. _ She answered. Surely Archie wouldn’t mind her borrowing his middle name.

Luna was looking at them with a content look on her face. “You have become what you were meant to be becoming.” 

Harry looked up and frowned at her. “What do you mean?”

“Everyone can become something, but that is different when you are becoming something you were meant to become.”

Before Harry could begin to parse through that, Aria interrupted.  _ Someone’s coming. _

Harry turned to look, cocking her head to the side. She could hear another heartbeat and the sounds of laboured breathing, the snapping of twigs beneath clumsy feet. Harry turned to warn Luna only to find that the girl that had been across from her had disappeared, leaving nothing but a swirling of leaves in her wake.

_ Traitor, _ Harry thought.

But for now… 

_ Hurry Aria, you’ve got to hide! _ Harry told Aria.

_ And leave you behind? _ Aria asked, outraged.  _ I need to stay here and protect you, you stupid human! _

Harry hissed out a breath between her teeth.  _ We don’t have time for this. _ Grabbing Aria off the ground she began stuffing her into her robes, the small Occamy hissing in protest and wriggling in Harry’s grasp, making the task twice as difficult.

“Harry? Why are you trying to shove an Occamy down your shirt?” The bemused voice was familiar in a way that made Harry’s heart leap with alarm and fear, even as her throat began to close up and she blinked and looked up at Archie. He smiled that charming smile of his, but his eyes were gentle. “Hey, cuz.” He was holding a basket over one arm and Harry could smell all sorts of delicious foods emanating from it. Harry’s stomach grumbled loudly on cue.

Harry took a step backwards, and then another and then another. With each step she took backwards Archie took one forward, until Harry’s back hit the treehouse behind her. Aria hissed from where she had settled around Harry’s shoulders, her scales brushing against the back of Harry’s neck, her feathers tickling her ear.  _ Do you want me to sting him? _

_ Sting? _ Harry asked, distracted by the entreating look in Archie’s eyes.

_ My tail has poisonous barbs. The poison would kill him within minutes. _ Aria said intently.

_ No, I don’t want you to do that! He’s my cousin, practically my brother! _ Harry said, glaring at Aria.

Aria’s plume flared.  _ Then why do you smell like fear just because he’s here? _

Harry swallowed.  _ It’s… it’s complicated. _

Aria cocked her head as she considered.  _ Well, if you don’t want me to sting him, then I think we should consider what he has to say. He has food after all, and we’re both pretty hungry. _

That was a good point. But Harry didn’t want to. She would rather bolt and run than risk hurting Archie. With her mind made up Harry darted out of the shelter of the tree only for Archie to lunge forward and grab her by the arm. Harry froze. She met his eyes. He was genuine, pleading. “Just tell me what’s wrong.  _ Please _ , Harry.”

Harry closed her eyes and shook her head, ripping herself out of his grip. She took a step. Two. Three. The world seemed to blur around her, everything becoming indistinct as white noise filled her ears and the ground seemingly tilted out from beneath her feet. She fell to the ground with a pain she couldn’t feel. Her breathing shuddered to a stop. And then her heart stopped beating.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so I know that having a magical beast as a familiar is sort of Mary Sueish, but I'm hoping that I can make a decent character out of Aria to make up for it and make her be more than just Harry's familiar, with thoughts, friends and opinions of her own.
> 
> Also Luna. Gotta love Luna, even if she is difficult to write. I'm doing a bit of a different take on her than I think most people would have, (Seer!Luna is often prevalent in a lot of fics) so tell me what you think! ^_^
> 
> See y'all next chap!


	4. Awake

Harry felt a distant pulling sensation, as if she were attached to a string that was on its way to slowly snapping in half. Everything around Harry was a bright white, and the only thing she could see around her was a glowing green light that seemed to pulse agitatedly, almost as if it were panicked. Where Harry’s green was a poisonous, electric green, this green was more of a forest green, and Harry immediately knew it was Archie. A small turquoise light that must have been Aria sat beside him. 

For the first time Harry wondered what was happening. What was this place? She suddenly remembered falling down, and then… what? 

Was she… dying?

That was what would make the most sense, she supposed.

But that didn’t mean she would take this lying down.

Thrashing, she tried to force herself, in whatever form she was in, to go down. She could feel the string tethering her soul – her magical core – to her body weaken. Desperately, she reached out ephemeral fingers towards Archie and Aria. Her fingers slid right through Archie but snagged on Aria. She was pulled in.

Suddenly she was aware of herself, coiled up on the ground next to her bondmate’s human, reared up and waiting anxiously as she tried to do something, anything–!

_!lkjfds!? _

Harry felt a disorienting shift in perceptions as she remembered herself.  _ Aria? _

She felt Aria’s plume lift in surprise and felt relief flash through her even as her body writhed with disgust and revulsion and watched with a sickening sensation in her gut as her body laid still and motionless on the ground, with a black mist rising from its flesh. Archie sat next to her, holding her hand and weeping.  _ What do you think you’re doing?! You need to get back to your old body, not steal mine! _

_ I don’t know how. _ Harry said helplessly.

Aria hissed, almost like a sigh.  _ I’m sure we can figure something out. _

_ Is there any way for an Occamy to transfer someone’s soul back into their body? _ Harry asked.

_ No, _ Aria said. _ But there might be a way to transfer your magic back into your body via your bloodstream. _

Magic and soul being the same thing, Harry immediately made the connection.  _ You’re talking about poisoning me. _ She said suspiciously.

_ Yes. _ Aria said.  _ Even if this works, you will no longer be among the living. Your heart has stopped, so any poison I emit will be the equivalent to a bug bite. _

Harry thought about this. It was true her magical core had been disconnecting from her body, had disconnected from her body. Would reconnecting turn her into an inferi, one who would immediately turn upon Archie upon her waking? 

Before she could consider something a bit less well-advised, Aria reared forward and struck with the barbs of her tail. They stuck fast into Harry’s arm, and Harry’s magic along with the poison was funneled in along with it. She travelled up her arm and through her shoulder, her magical core pooling down into her belly and settling there, right where it belonged. Harry heard Archie yelling and blinked and opened her eyes. “Archie?” She realized that Aria had been pushed violently away from her, the Occamy hissing protests in her head as Archie whipped around to look at her.

“Harry?” He asked, his eyes vulnerable. Harry found she couldn’t stand that, couldn’t stand him looking at her like that. She rolled to her feet and started gathering up the Occamy egg, grabbing the two pieces and tucking them under her arm. “Harry, wait!” Harry felt more than saw Archie behind her, so before he could approach Harry exploded her body into black mist. The black mists twisted itself into its familiar snake-like form, though something felt different somehow. Harry didn’t have time to ponder as she swallowed the egg, and then swooped down to engulf both Aria and the basket of food.

Her last view of Archie was of him looking up into the sky, watching her go.

༻✦༺ ༻✧༺ ༻✦༺

Harry touched down in a forest a few miles from the city that held The Leaky Cauldron. She knew that in order for her plan to work she would need to get into Diagon Alley. Step one of the plan was to secure her disguise and gather as much spell knowledge as she could, specifically on defense spells, cooking spells and anti-tracking spells. Securing her disguise meant looking through old wizarding genealogies for any deceased families that might have an heir that had died in the past that would now be her age or near her age. She couldn’t pose as a muggleborn because her persona needed to be grounded in reality, and for that to work, she needed to pose as someone that at least marginally existed, possibly someone who would have been an orphan if they had lived. Then the trouble would be securing the disguise, but with hair dye and some contact lenses it couldn’t be too hard, so long as she was resourceful with her lies.

Whether she could do so in a year was the real problem.

She was on a deadline because Hogwarts came in a year, and if her identity wasn’t assumed by the time the Hogwarts Registration Scroll wrote down her name, then she might as well throw in the towel. Because despite her on the run status, Harry planned on taking this opportunity to go to Hogwarts and study under Master Snape. Her goals hadn’t significantly changed, despite her determination to protect her family; she knew Archie was going to AIM, so she had no fears about running into him at Hogwarts.

It was only reasonable, really. 

The first step was funds, so Harry quickly transformed back into her human self, finding it much easier this time. Aria hissed in annoyance as she was displaced from the warmth of Harry’s core, Harry catching her in her arms before she could fall to the ground. The Occamy coiled herself around her arm, sliding up her shoulder to settle her coils around her neck. Figuring a baby Occamy wouldn’t be the strangest sight in Diagon Alley, Harry pulled her hood over her head, before pausing mid-motion. Had her robes had a hood before? No, she was certain they hadn’t. She had simply reached for a hood as though it should be there, and it was. Uneasy, Harry shook off the thoughts for now and picked up the Occamy egg, idly wishing there was a bag she could carry it in. A few minutes later, she tripped over a large satchel that had mysteriously appeared in her path. 

How convenient.

Blinking at the oddness of the situation, Harry just shrugged and stowed the egg into the bag, noting how the egg went down with room to spare despite the size of the bag and the doubtless Featherlight Charm that made it feel nearly weightless on her shoulder. Curious, Aria slipped down her shoulder and into the bag, only to hiss in alarm as she fell down into its copious folds.  _ Rigel, please help!  _

Harry shook her head with amusement before fishing the Occamy out of the bag and going on her way. 

༻✦༺ ༻✧༺ ༻✦༺

Harry took a turn down Knockturn Alley, not sure what to expect. The Alley floor was dirty and grimy and gradually turned to a dusty dirty road beneath her feet. The shops that lined the street were run-down and dilapidated, dirty windows letting in little light, rusty hinges squeaking in the wind. The people around her were no better off. She passed a Hag selling fingernails that gave her an unsettling grin and quickly moved onwards. People leered at her left and right, giving her suspicious or greedy looks. A child that must be three years younger than her ran past in dirty threadbare clothing, and Harry wanted to be sick. 

Harry saw the flash of a knife in the corner of her vision and leaped back, Aria hissing a warning. Her leap was just enough that the knife, instead of hitting her heart, hit her upper forearm. It stood embedded into the flesh, and oddly, it didn’t hurt. Harry stared at her attacker, a portly man who was missing a few teeth. “What’s you’s got there?” He asked, his eyes gleaming as his eyes flicked from Aria, to the satchel on Harry’s shoulder.

Of course. How stupid could she be?

Her eyes narrowed as she tried to consider her options, but the choice was quickly made for her when the man lunged towards her. With a split second decision, Harry yanked the knife out of her forearm and held it in front of her. The rest of it was simply momentum. She felt as the knife entered the man’s chest and skittered off his ribs, thick, hot blood splattering her hands as the knife sunk deep. The man simply groaned and slumped into her, and Harry stepped back, her heart pounding like a drumbeat in her chest.

She wanted away from this. She wanted away from here.

She wanted away, away,  _ away– _

And then she was, knelt on the ground and breathing in the forest air. She took in a deep breath, and then another, trying not to vomit. 

She didn’t succeed.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

Harry found herself by a nearby river, washing the blood out of her robes. She was scrubbing at her hands, but no matter how hard she tried, the blood wouldn’t come off.

_ “Stop it, Rigel.” _ The words made her look up, towards the Occamy that was perched on a boulder, sunning herself.  _ “You’re hurting yourself.” _ Aria said, softer.

Harry looked down and realized dumbly that she had been scraping her hands raw. She drew her hands out of the stream, her skin immediately smarting where she had abused it. She drew her robes out too, wondering what had brought her to the decision to get her only set of clothes wet of all things, before hanging them over a branch to dry.

How was she going to sell the egg in this state? 

_ “I’m not sure if selling my egg is such a good idea.” _ Aria hissed.

Harry frowned at her, though privately she agreed.  _ “Where else am I supposed to get funds, then?” _

_ “Other humans have these ‘funds’ don’t they?” _ Aria replied.

_ “You want me to steal things?” _ Harry asked, incredulous.

_ Sure, why not? _ Aria asked.

Harry put her head in her hands and groaned.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Edit: edited for more ICness on Harry's part and more explanation for certain aspects that might be confusing.


End file.
